SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento International Airport is scheduled to open a $1 billion terminal today, replacing a structure that is four decades old with a building that is designed to be a striking entrance to California's capital region.

The $6 million in public art includes a distinctive centerpiece that is certain to generate attention, a suspended-in-air, 56-foot-long aluminum red hare leaping into a suitcase that dominates the glass-and-steel entryway.

"People will remember this airport," said construction worker Monique Hawn.

The terminal is among the largest construction projects in Sacramento County's history and created 2,400 jobs during the 2 1/2 years it was being built, the heart of a recession that has left state and regional unemployment hovering around 12 percent.

The new terminal, elevated people mover and concourse are designed to expand the airport's capacity to 16 million passengers a year, a surge that had been expected in about a decade, county Airports Director G. Hardy Acree said.

Those expectations have been downsized with the recession. The economy contracted just before groundbreaking in 2008, and the annual passenger count fell by nearly 2 million, from nearly 11 million in 2008 to 9 million last year.

What had been a nearly $1.3 billion project shrank to $1 billion after officials delayed construction of a hotel and parking garage. Instead, they built a terminal with walls designed to be expanded as the airport grows.

The airport, the fifth-busiest in California and 39th-busiest in the nation, expects to return to its 2008 passenger peak in five years. Officials said it will not hit its expected capacity until sometime late in the next decade.

Passengers and airlines will pay for the new terminal's construction costs over time.

A $4.50 ticket surcharge and revenue from parking fees will pay half the cost of building the terminal. Another 26 percent will come from fees airlines pay to use the airport. The balance comes from several sources, including federal grants and fees paid by rental car companies and restaurants and shops inside the terminal.

The airport is negotiating with airlines upset that the fee they pay for each passenger has risen significantly to help pay for the new terminal.

Southwest Airlines, which accounts for 55 percent of all Sacramento flights, paid a fee of $6.05 per passenger in 2008, but is projected to pay $16.15 next year and $19.67 by 2013.

"It really does put tremendous pressure on our ability to be successful and maintain profitability in Sacramento," said Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins.

The airlines and airport are negotiating lower fees. The money could be made up by spreading the increased cost to other users, including passengers.

Amanda Thomas, the airport's deputy director for finance and administration, said airline fees industrywide account for just 4 to 6 percent of airlines' operating costs. Moreover, the airlines helped design the new terminal, she said.

"It's not as if we've gone forward with this project without their input," Thomas said.

Los Angeles International, Long Beach, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Barbara all have replaced or redeveloped terminals in the last few years.

Inside the gates

Here are some facts and figures behind Sacramento International Airport's new terminal, scheduled to open today:

Total cost of construction: $1 billion.

Number of jobs created during construction: 2,400.

How it will be funded: 50 percent from parking and ticket surcharges; 26 percent from airline fees; remainder from sources including federal grants, fees paid by auto rental companies and airport shops.

How much spent on public art: $8 million ($6 million for the art and administrative costs, plus $2 million for an endowment to pay for future upkeep).

Number of artists employed: 14.

Number of passengers last year: 9 million.

Number of passengers expected in future: 16 million by late 2020s.

Number of departures per day: 147.

Fun fact: Two 75-by-12-foot wooden wall hangings on the ticketing level depict the faces of Sacramento International Airport baggage handlers. The artist, UCLA professor Christian Moeller, used photographs of the four baggage handlers to craft the wooden pieces that make up the artwork.